A guide for Secretary Tillerson: Let State focus on diplomacy, USAID be accountable for assistance

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Rumors abound, most recently in an article today in Foreign Policy that, along with draconian cuts to foreign assistance, the administration is contemplating merging the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) into the Department of State.


This follows a March 13 White House executive order directing agencies within six months to submit a reorganization plan to improve “efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability.” An April 21 memo from the Office of Management and Budget provided more specifics on the process for agencies developing plans to reduce civilian workforce and to restructure.
During his nomination hearing, Secretary of State Tillerson referenced a forthcoming State Department and USAID strategic review. There are various reports he is planning to establish an internal task force, or possibly a commission with external advisers, to recommend ways to reorganize both institutions.
Any foreign affairs restructuring must be undertaken carefully and strategically, guided by an understanding that development and diplomacy are distinct disciplines with distinct expertise and with distinct but interlocking objectives. Both are required to achieve our national interest. They need to inform and coordinate with the other, and each needs to be allowed to focus on its primary mandate.
Development involves country-level work, often at the local, grassroots level, with a range of governmental and non-governmental entities to achieve priority objectives. This is accomplished by designing and implementing strategies, policies, and programs to reduce global poverty and promote economic, social, and political progress. Diplomacy, on the other hand, is responsible for setting and implementing U.S. foreign policy. It focuses mainly on maintaining strong relations with the national governments and with international organizations.
Diplomacy requires the skills of policy analysis, negotiating, patience, and country expertise, while focusing on immediate impacts. Development requires expertise on societal change, sector workings, and program operations, while having more consideration for long-term effects. Put another way, the State Department recruits for policy and ...

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